At first I hated doing these - I haven't drawn in years and I didn't think I'd have the knack for this, but it's not too bad once you've done it once or twice. First time I didn't use a drawing board so they turned out a little wonky, but then I bought the Popamazing A3 drawing board off Amazon (cheap, does the job fine) and my drawings have looked loads neater. The drawing board is a little cheap feeling and I would love something a bit sturdier and smarter in the future but it works for now.

2. My presentation and concept boards have improved 🖌

Who knew there was an actual knack to putting together a presentation and concept board? I thought you just whacked images together in a visually pleasing way and that was that but, as I've learnt, it does require more work than that. My first one I submitted was kinda terrible, but they've improved a ton since and are more fun to work on now I'm better at them.

Note: You can see everything diploma related (including pictures of my presentation boards) on my Instagram profile as a story highlight.

3. I've finally put together a portfolio... 📒

At the moment I have some of my work printed off, put into plastic wallets and are in a slim black ring binder because I'm not exactly sure how an interior design portfolio should look. I have all my work on my computer too so I will probably start up an online portfolio soon. For now I like having my work in a physical folder that I can carry around with me if needed. Admittedly the printed off work isn't the best quality (I have a standard printer, nothing fancy) but it's not bad, I just wish the lines were crisper and the colours popped more. Maybe I'll get them printed professionally in the future, who knows.

4. ... and a sample book 🎨

Last year I ordered a million and one wallpaper and fabric samples and colour cards. I have them stored in a landscape A3 folder and a lever arch file. Again, no clue what a proper interior designer sample book looks like (or if people even keep their samples in a book) but this works for me at the moment. I know that in the next module or the one after that I will be able to put a lot of my fabric samples to use which I can't wait for. I have so many it's kind of ridiculous.

5. I'm having a lot of fun, but I'm still not sure what's going to happen afterwards..! 🤔

The obvious route would be university, but there's a big part of me that is saying "NO" because of how much I hated it last time. I understand that last time I was doing Creative Writing and not Interior Design, so it would be a massively different experience, but I didn't love the university feel. I didn't like being a student (even though I am one now, lol) and I didn't like the fact that it felt like school.

I expect it'd be different because I would be, 1) doing a different course studying a subject I love way more, and 2) at a whole new uni. I'm undecided, and I'm on no time limit, so I'm going to wait it out. I could also stay on with the NDA and do a BA (Hons) with them, so that's a possibility, it's just that I'd be studying from home still and not meeting a whole lot of people/going out much/getting that 'hands on' experience.